now showing

I remember my mom telling me that everytime they finished landscaping their yard, they moved. And lots of similar stories from friends over the years. "We've finally got our house the way we wanted it, and now we're moving." Or, "We got our house ready to sell, and now we wonder why we didn't do this stuff earlier when we'd be here to enjoy it."

We get it. We've been primping our house for months now. It's not perfect, but we did get rid of all those "little" things that loom and linger. Baseboards are no longer scuffed, but gleaming white. That chip in wall at the base of the stairs from when Eli launched his Bobcat from the top stair, spackled and painted. The sidewalk, patched. Doors, painted. Windows, replaced. Staged, photographed and now, For Sale By Owner.

We put up the sign in November. Then we decided to replace the tragically-fake fiberglass false stone siding with white siding to match the rest of the house. So now it looks like this:

We bought an MLS listing November 17th, to allow agents to show it. Eight showings later, we got our first offer on December 23rd. This Saturday, 3 more showings, and today another "not the one" offer. But we're encouraged. And wondering if '09 will become "the year we moved."